Starting today I take over as Publisher, Editor-in-Chief, chief executive officer, and any other titles I can think of. (If you get flustered in my presence, “Dear Leader” will do.)

I was born in Brighton, grew up in Watertown, and have lived most of my life within a fairly easy drive of the Hub of the Universe. (Unlike many who use that term, I have never thought of it as ironic.)

I have spent most of my adult life working for newspapers around here, some of which you’ve probably heard of, and most of which you probably haven’t.

But enough about me. Let’s talk about you.

You, by definition of having gotten this far into this article on this web page, are a reader of NewBostonPost. A dear reader, as a matter of fact. I not only respect you; I treasure you.

To be fair, NewBostonPost has a lot of readers — a credit to founding publisher Tina McCormick, recent editor-in-chief Jennifer Braceras, senior reporter Evan Lips, reporter Kelly Thomas, and other recent and current contributors.

But we have room for a few more.

(Hello to you, Seamus Mulligan. I’m not stealing that line, only borrowing it.)

Why should you read this web site?

We have something that doesn’t exist elsewhere.

NewBostonPost is an online newspaper that covers Boston and the rest of New England with news and commentary from a conservative point of view.

What does that mean?

Among the principles we hold dear:

— respect for tradition

— skepticism of government

— love of country

— zeal for freedom

— support for a free market

— belief in Judaeo-Christian morality

— reverence for religion

— regard for private property

This list intentionally steers clear of individual issues. We certainly care about issues. But we don’t start with issues. Instead, these principles guide us.

So are we trying to slant the news? Are we trying to be the conservative version of the liberal media?

No.

Let’s stipulate that in this world there is no such thing as a purely “objective” presentation of what happened. Everybody has a perspective on something, shaped in some way by our beliefs and experiences. So everybody has some bias. (As a friend of mine likes to say, “An open mind is an empty mind.”)

There are two kinds of bias in news. The first is where a reporter or editor (or both) skew facts, distort quotes, misinterpret sources, and engage in other sins of commission or omission to present a picture at odds with reality in order to advance an agenda or keep some other agenda from advancing.

(Sound familiar?)

That’s the sort of bias we hope to avoid. Our standards in reporting the news are truth, honesty, fairness. Being fallible, we’ll fall short of them. But we aim high.

The second type of bias is in the selection of news. What constitutes a story? What makes one event newsworthy, and something else not? Why do some things get in the paper and others don’t? This is the sort of bias we not only admit to; we embrace it.

This is a conservative publication. We’re most interested in the topics that conservatives find interesting, and we are likely to ask the types of questions that conservatives ask.

That said, we’re not trying to force a conservative angle on everything we cover. Only certain hard-bitten Leftists imagine that everything is political. So you’ll find plenty of material that doesn’t have an obvious ideological significance.

But enough about us. Let’s talk about me again.

I could use your help.

If you have a news tip or an idea you think can improve our product, I’d like to know about it. I don’t promise to agree, but I do promise to listen.